World number one Novak Djokovic could face Roger Federer in the US Open semi-finals, while Thursday’s draw put defending champion Rafael Nadal in line for a possible last-four clash with Andy Murray.
Djokovic boasts a stunning 57-2 record in 2011, and one of the Serbian’s two match defeats came against Federer in the French Open semi-finals.
Federer’s victory at Roland Garros ended Djokovic’s season-opening run of victories at 41 — one shy of equalling John McEnroe’s 1984 record of a 42-match unbeaten start to a season.
When Federer beat him at the French, Djokovic had won 43 matches in a row in a streak stretching back to Serbia’s 2010 Davis Cup triumph.
Last year Djokovic beat five-time US Open champion Federer in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows, where the last Grand Slam tournament of the year begins on Monday.
Top-seeded Djokovic is seeded to meet seventh-seeded Gael Monfils of France in the quarter-finals.
Federer could meet eighth-seeded Mardy Fish — the top-ranked American in the men’s field — in the quarters.
Potential quarter-final clashes in the bottom half of the draw include second-seeded Nadal against fifth-seeded fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and fourth-seeded Murray of Britain against sixth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden.
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